Tiny Sea Creature Holds Promise for Cold-Weather Endurance Athletes

Marine oil has been found to hold the key to maintaining optimal lung capacity in athletes engaged in cold weather endurance sports such as cycling, cross-country skiing, and running. One of the problems that has plagued athletes since mankind devised recreational activities to fill in the gaps between hunting and fighting is that during cold weather, lung capacity diminished rather rapidly. Indeed, the deeper and more quickly a person breathed, the more quickly their lung capacity was reduced, which required more breathing, which set off a downward spiral into an oxygen-deprived state.

The problem caused by breathing in cold air is called exercise-induced bronchial constriction (EIBC). Anyone who has taken a few rapid deep breaths during cold weather has experienced a degree of EIBC, as they felt their lungs react to the freezing air. Endurance athletes, in particular, have been frustrated by the limitation that cold weather places on their lung capacity.

The process works like this. First, the lungs become dehydrated and smoother when subject to cold dry air, which results in a less efficient transfer of oxygen to the blood. Cold air is almost always dry, because the moisture content of air freezes. The cold-induced breathing difficulty was described by S.D. Anderson and P. Kippelen in their paper, "Airway injury as a mechanism for exercise-induced brochoconstriction in elite athletes,” published in the August 2008 Journal of Allergic and Clinical Immunology. The work done by Anderson and Kippelen was echoed in a paper by W.K. Rundell and J.B. Slee in the same issue, called "Exercise and other indirect challenges to demonstrate asthma or exercise-induced bronchoconstriction in athletes."

Quietly, almost like an underground movement among serious athletes, it has become known during the past decade or so that the use of marine oil as a food supplement can give their lung performance a degree of protection against the cold. Researchers T.D. Mickelborough and colleagues from the Indiana University School of Medicine found that an athlete’s lung capacity could be improved by as much as 10 percent when an anti-inflammatory marine oil was used to inhibit bronchial constriction caused by breathing in cold air. Their study was published in 2006 in the medical journal Chest.

Endurance athletes such as cyclists and long-distance runners who must perform in the outdoors find that EIBC can become a serious problem for them during those times of year. British professional cyclists have been testing high dosages of fish oil to protect and improve their lung performance after they saw the Indiana University study, which showed that the intake of 20 grams per day of fish oil reduced EIBC. The disadvantage of the fish oil approach is that it requires a lot of fish oil capsules—more, perhaps, than some people can tolerate.

There is, however, a more convenient alternative in the form of the oil of the New Zealand green-lipped mussel (Perna canaliculus). This mussel oil is many times more potent than the best of the fish oils, so just one capsule can have the same therapeutic benefit as a jar of fish oil capsules.

Something to be mindful of when considering this mussel oil is that it is extremely fragile. To date, only one process has been developed for the extraction of the oil in a form that retains its therapeutic properties. Only one product, called Lyprinol, contains the result of this patented extractions process. There are other mussel products on the market, but published studies have shown none of them to be as effective as Lyprinol.

In his book "The Inflammation Revolution" (Square One Publishers ISBN 0-7570-0283-8), Professor Georges Halpern examined research by various doctors who showed that Lyprinol was 200 times more potent than Max-EPA; 250 times more potent that other green-lipped mussel products; 350 times more potent than evening primrose oil; 350 times more potent than salmon oil; and 400 times more potent than flax seed oil. With a proven potency of 350:1 in favor of Lyprinol, it becomes an attractive and cost-effective alternative to downing dozens of fish oil capsules each day.

Research has also shown that as an anti-inflammatory, Lyprinol was as effective as prescription synthetic pharmaceuticals, but did not have any of the side effects or potential for adverse interactions with other drugs. A great deal of this research was done by Dr. Michael Whitehouse of the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane, Australia. The work done by Dr. Whitehouse also showed that just 20 mg of Lyprinol had a greater anti-inflammatory benefit than 2,000 mg of fish oil. Two of the best known papers by Dr. Whitehouse on this research are "Anti-inflammatory activity of a lipid fraction (Lyprinol) from the NZ green-lipped mussel" (Iopharmacology, 1997; 5: 272-246) and "Over-the-counter oral remedies for arthritis and rheumatism: How effective are they?" (Inflammopharmacology, 1999: 89-105).

Marathon runners in Germany have been recommending Lyprinol for fellow athletes for the past three years, and an ever-growing number are convinced of the efficacy of this natural protection for their breathing.

While researchers continue to gather more information on the effects of inflammation on a host of conditions, including exercise-induced bronchial constriction, the powerful anti-inflammatory derived from the tiny green-lipped mussel of New Zealand is showing itself to be the athletes’ best defence against this cold air problem. Athletes and others can find out more about the anti-inflammatory benefits of Lyprinol at www.lyprinolusa.com.